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Monday, August 23, 2010

What's Good for Weight, Mood, and Finances: A Granola Bar

Funny About Money started a new dieting blog. I'm not on a diet (too undisciplined), but I read it anyway. Recently, Funny succumbed to temptation and--starving--ate a hot dog. She was remorseful.

I have the solution! A granola bar, or similar. I tend to have meltdowns after being out and about for too long. Shopping makes me crazy (except at thrift stores). I seldom shop except when my daughter is around. She has learned to carry a granola bar and a bottle of water, so Mommy doesn't have a meltdown.

This is a family tradition. Mr. FS and I would take our little ones to the zoo or the aquarium on weekends. Then we would go to a coffee shop. After a while, the kids wanted more and more to eat. Then they would have meltdowns. Sometimes WE would have meltdowns because of a caffeine deficit.

So we learned to bring a thermos of coffee and a few snacks in the car. I suppose this practice has saved us, oh, $1,000,000.00.

Interestingly, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, attributes the thinness of French women, in part, to carrying the secret granola bar for emergencies. (The other part would be all the walking that Parisiennes do.)


So weight control, mood, and finances? So much from a little snack.

Do you have any similar strategies?

10 comments:

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Almonds...but what brand of granola bar do you eat? Some are very high in calories...I might need to buy that book! I need to lose some weight and I so adore French Chic...

Susan B said...

I buy and keep Trader Joe's "Just a Handful" of unsalted almonds packs handy. (Granola bars cause my blood sugar to spike and then drop too rapidly, and then I'm worse off than before.) For petit monsieur, we travel with packages of peanut butter crackers and cheese sticks.

Jenna said...

Totally agree with this statement. Get a hunger fix, chocolate fix and save some money all in the process. Great deal all around.

Crystal Stemberger said...

I laughed when I read this because I posted the same response to Funny about Money earlier today, lol. I keep a box of granola bars in my car just so I don't gorge when I finally am exposed to food. :-)

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

Walking and STAIR CLIMBING!!

Paris was crazy with the amount of stairs everywhere. No elevators in most of the old buildings, 4-story walkups, stairs in metro stations... :)

I also think that people don't binge eat in Paris the way we do here... although not every French woman I saw was slim & svelte.

That's a misconception.

There were just as many slim & fat women as there are in North America, although I should note that some of them MAY have been tourists, seeing the way they were dressed, but I couldn't be sure.

The only difference is I rarely saw any clinically obese people in Paris.

I tend to just eat a hearty breakfast and try not to let lunch pass my grumbling tummy by.

Hummus and bread at 6 a.m. morning with some tea and a glass of orange juice gets me all the way to around 2 p.m. before hunger pangs start again.

Funny about Money said...

Nuts. I used to carry pistachio nuts around for this purpose.

Anonymous said...

ditto to hostess

Some of those granola bars are chock full of sugar as well. Not so good when trying to combat hypoglycemia. There was one version of kashi that I think was ok for much but not all of my pregnancy (I got more and more sensitive as it went on)... maybe the chocolate cherry one?

I carry nuts and 70-85% concentration chocolate. Also fruit if I'm at work.

Duchesse said...

I pack raw nuts and occasionally, kashi bars; many granola bars are like eating cookies (check nutrition label).

Fabulously Broke: For obesity (BMI over 30) for USA and France see this cute graphic: http://miscellanea.wellingtongrey.net/2007/05/06/global-obesity-fatness-by-country/
and you will see 31% for USA, 9% for France.

For overweight (defined as BMI 25-30), rate in France (both sexes); 49%, USA, 64%. EU stats are here: http://www.iotf.org/database/documents/v2PDFforwebsiteEU27.pdf

Frugal Scholar said...

@Hostess--You caught me! I really carry peanuts and raisins. I only eat granola bars when they are on a super sale.

@DejaPseu--My husband grew up in Pasadena and went to the original TJ's. Somehow, the company has not seen fit to build in my area. My children are not so petit(s?) anymore--but we still carry things for them.

@Jenna--Yes--a win-win.

@BFS--If we both thought it, it must be RIGHT.

@FB--So right about those stairs. I was shocked by how out of shape I was.

@Funny--Time to buy more pistachios. And stop beating yourself up about that hotdog.

@nicoleandmaggie--You are right that most are like candy bars. When I was pregnant, I ate spoonfuls of peanut butter. My children are also addicted to pb--perhaps from their in utero meals.

@Duchesse--I live in one of the most obese states in the US--so I see it all around me. Interestingly, it is also one of the happiest states.

Anonymous said...

Only $1,000,000? LOL.

I am one of these people that has to eat NOW when I get to a certain point of hunger so learned to plan ahead with snacks when out and about.

My snack of choice varies depending on what I have that's portable at the time.